MarketView Snapshot Office Basel Q4 2024

Over the last few years, the office availability rate in the city of Basel steadily increased from very low 2.7% in Q1 2019 to 5.7% as of Q4 2024, which corresponds to 149,000 sq m. Basel thus marks a new peak in terms of availability. After a decrease in availability in Q1 2024, the amount of available space has now again seen a slight increase due to new properties being marketed (e.g. Grosspeter TEC or the GLOBUS offices Basel). The supply of large and modern office units in good locations (Grade A) has slightly strengthened but remains limited overall.

In the suburbs, availability has strongly increased since early 2023 and currently stands at 93,000 sq m or 7.2% in Q4 2024.

The Basel commercial real estate market continues to be in a transitional phase, which is characterized by two factors. First, several formerly owner-occupied industrial sites (e.g. Rosental Mitte or Klybeck) are being made available to new users, thereby expanding the rental market.

Secondly, the consolidation wave is gradually reaching its peak. Various life sciences and financial companies are releasing rental space in favor of their new owner-occupied buildings (e.g. Roche or Helvetia) or are striving to use their buildings more efficiently and are releasing their own space to third-party tenants (e.g. Novartis). Accordingly, a further slight expansion of supply could take place in the mid term. Following the completion of many owner-occupied buildings in recent years, the pipeline of new builds for the years 2025 to 2026 and especially for the years after 2026 shows a significantly lower construction activity. In the city of Basel, cumulated new office construction is expected to reach 53,000 sq m by 2026 and 65,000 sq m by 2028, if all projects will be realized as planned.